He wanted to be seen with her.“He was using you.”
“I know.”
I slanted a look in her direction.
“I’m sorry?”
“Don’t be.I’ll find him.”
Ellie hooked her arm with mine.“About that, can you let someone else to do it?”
“What are you saying?”
Her cheek flinched.“Can you ever retire?”
I cupped her cheeks.“I’m trying.”
The smile on her face was worth the trouble it would cause.
19
Ellie
The crime scene tape on my apartment was tattered.I stared at it wondering why Ringo hadn’t told me anything.Two reasons came to mind.The most obvious was that he was protecting me.But that didn’t make sense because the police had to know whose building this was, and who lived in that unit.Right?Which also meant that this was somehow connected to him and the organizations he worked with.A.K.A., point two.
“Hey Ellie, everything okay?”My neighbor gestured toward the tape barricading my former home.
I smiled and waved at him.“Just evicting a honey badger who took up residence.No big.”
“I hear those things are vicious.”
“They’ll tear your face off if you get too close.”I shot back, keeping the banter going.He probably thought I was the weirdest chick on the planet.Which was just fine.“You didn’t hear the commotion, did you?”
“Naw, I’ve been working doubles lately.I was doing an overnight at the hospital, came home and saw the tape.Sorry about your window.”
Window, right.The boarded-up plywood covered my entire sliding glass door opening.“Thanks.”
He toddled off, clueless.
I stepped over the little wrought-iron fence and examined the damage.Someone had swept up the glass, but there were little glittery pebbles stuck in the crack between the building foundation and the concrete slab I called a patio.My home would be a tomb without the light coming in.
“Hey, Ellie.”
I turned to see which nosy neighbor was hailing me now and stopped short.
Bridget Perkins, former FBI agent—my ass she was a former one—stood in the parking lot.“Did you get reinstated?”
Her face darkened.“Bastards.”She followed that with a cheerier, “What happened here?”
She knew where I lived.I made a mental note to pack all my shit and move it into Ringo’s condo on the lakefront.At least that building had a guard in the lobby.“Squirrels.”
Bridget stared at the plywood behind me.“Awfully big squirrels.”
I shrugged.“Yup.About the size of a small dog.Jumped off the second balcony, saw its reflection and wanted a piece of that, then hit the glass with his dick angled just right and shattered the whole thing.”
She chewed on that for a beat.“I’ve read your file.”
Shit.She’d know about the tall tales then.“What do you think happened?”
